2013 Bahrain Grand Prix Thread

[Duncan]

The tires are starting to get a little ridiculous now... not sure what happened to Massa, twice, but looked like a catastrophic failure in the same tire. Maybe something damaged on the floor of the car causing surface damage to the tire and resulting in failure? I don't see any obvious explanation for Hamilton's practice failure, though.

[Whyzars]

then why bother watching :/

Because its F1. I've always watched F1.

Just like I did with grooved tyres, I will eagerly await the race changing madness that is DRS and KERS being relegated to the dustbin of history...

it was an exciting race
and the tires played less of a factor today

thankfully

Lotus 2nd and 3rd, after qualifying well down the grid, showed that tyres, or fuel load, had a huge impact on this race result. You said yourself in an earlier post that Webber was suffering from the tyre degradation and he was one of many. Add a DRS zone which can destroy a racers race, should he get caught whilst on old tyres, and I see this F1 result as a nonsense.

If the tyres are behaving as designed then we don't need the DRS, easy as that. Alonso's DRS failing in the open position is something that was never supposed to happen, guess what, it did. He was fortunate his race did not end spectacularly.

I don't get moist over the DRS deciding race results for 5th place. I like my race action at the pointy end and there wasn't any. Look at the ease with which Grosjean cruised through the field, assisted by the DRS, and tell me how he did this if it wasn't tyres - or fuel.

We have Parc Ferme in F1. When we see cars going backwards through the field and others coming forward, it can only be two things - tyres and/or fuel. We can all see what tyres teams are running but the race fuel load at the start is not publicised and should be. At least when the top ten had to qualify in full race trim there was no mystery - that was in the days of fuel stops as well so it is more important now. Teams could also be compelled to advertise burn rate through the race.

Rosberg drove a dominant qualifying lap to stick it on pole. He and his team mate, both accomplished drivers, were unable to finish better than 5th with Rosberg going backwards from the first lap. Qualifying is not straw drawing and when qualifying does not represent race reality there is something odd happening.

Angela Landsbury performs in mysteries, Nico Rosberg does not.


All in good fun...

[TheFamousEccles]

Rosberg drove a dominant qualifying lap to stick it on pole. He and his team mate, both accomplished drivers, were unable to finish better than 5th with Rosberg going backwards from the first lap. Qualifying is not straw drawing and when qualifying does not represent race reality there is something odd happening.

Interesting point. I see Webber getting enormous amounts of abuse for apparently underperforming in the "best car" on the grid, yet Rosberg - in the dominant car in qualifying (Bieber himself said Rosberg was too fast) had the handbrake on from the off. As did Hamilton. Where's the calls for them to be fired for underperforming? Or is this just over excited armchair experts giving out the authoritah? Or it could be boring and predictable dross? Who can tell?

[Robinho]

Its the other way around for me. Button as ruining Perez's race. Perez was obviously half a second quicker and defended aggressively then had the nerve to complain. What did he expect, perez to hold station behind him and allow Alonso to pass him?

the proof was how quick perez was once he got passed buton and alons made a quick meal of him too. then button had to pit for a 4th time.
I'm sorry, but Button was a donkey today and all he did was compromise Perez today.

To be fair, Button started in front, was making good progress before and after the 1st stops, but Perez and Rosberg both pitted before him in the 2nd stops. Button came out behind, caught and passed them both, but in doing so appears to have taken the best of the tyres and Perez stayed in the DRS zone. The following battle clearly finished Button's tyres. That period was the only period when Perez was really quicker, prior to that Button appeared as quick if not quicker. I also think they both drove well, exceeded the car at time and for me had a great battle. It was a bit close to the lines of reasonable at times, but they got away with it. The knock on the rear and banging wheels when side by side I put on Perez's side, I also think Button was a little "robust" when Perez ran out of road, although he was only partly alongside.

It's also interesting to see the Mclaren being a decent car in race trim, its not the quickest, but was mixing it with the Mercs, Massa and Webber yesterday. It seems very much like Ferrari in 2012. A change in suspension (to pull-rod) a car that lacks grip in qually and is somewhere around a second of the ultimate pace, but improves immeasureably on the Sunday.

[jens]

so annoying to see vettel on the podium
He is celebrating like he did something special today

I think this is a bit unfair to criticize people for being happy, whenever it goes well in life? When should we be happy at all then?

I would personally celebrate with full enjoyment and emotion whenever I win, unless something tragic happened in the race or the race leader retired with a car failure on the last lap, then it would feel slightly strange as well. You've got to enjoy life, especially if you do well, don't you?

[jens]

How easy is it for RB? Gutierrez would dominate in that car

Oh, Garry. What can I say, mate. I would kindly recommend for you to follow another sport, which creates you happier emotions, as long as Vettel is still in F1. Because he threatens to stay in F1 for a long time and be successful.

As for Gutiérrez, I see that he finished among Caterhams and Marussias in the last race - that in a Sauber, which you would probably expect to be significantly more competitive. So you do not convince me that Gutiérrez can dominate anything even in the fastest car.

[zako85]

Nothing made sense in this race result.

Alonso had 2 unnecessary stops, no DRS and finishes 8th. Brilliant.

He did ok job, I wouldn't call such result brilliant in the presence of so much noise. Vettel had finished on the podium from the last position in the last year.

Rosberg qualifies on pole and receives a boat anchor for the race. Whatever happened to his car in Parc Ferme should be investigated - Make his car pee into a bottle.

What happened probably is that Rosberg got the suspension settings he asked for, which still makes him a donkey.

This race was a nonsense and Vettel made the rest of the grid look very, very ordinary.

Vettel got lucky because Alonso had a mechanical problem early in the race. After that Vettel had no real competition. This was one of the easiest wins. A pretty ordinary Vettel win IMO. Besides Alonso-Ferrari the rest of the grid is not competitive with him on consistent basis.

[steveaki13]

As for Gutiérrez, I see that he finished among Caterhams and Marussias in the last race - that in a Sauber, which you would probably expect to be significantly more competitive. So you do not convince me that Gutiérrez can dominate anything even in the fastest car.

He did smash into one on lap 1 so lost 40 seconds odd pitting for a new nose, but he still didnt manage to overhaul them. Which may say a bit about Marussia and Caterhams improved pace as well as Estebans race from hell.